Interactive Metaphors in Political Posters: Poster Z Section from the Website of Russia’s Ministry of Defense

Posters are complex hybrid texts in which the verbal and the visual work together for a complex effect on the addressee. This article focuses on the metaphorical interactive meaning of symbols and the semantic construction of metaphors that transmit positive political propaganda published in the Pos...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li Yan, Van Han'
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kemerovo State University 2025-07-01
Series:Виртуальная коммуникация и социальные сети
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Online Access:https://jsocnet.ru/en/nauka/article/100957/view
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Summary:Posters are complex hybrid texts in which the verbal and the visual work together for a complex effect on the addressee. This article focuses on the metaphorical interactive meaning of symbols and the semantic construction of metaphors that transmit positive political propaganda published in the Poster Z section on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The authors studied 119 posters for metaphors to be analyzed for interactive meaning, semantic structural patterns, and their frequency distribution. At the level of interactive meaning, Russian military propaganda posters demonstrate a multimodal mechanism of discourse construction. The posters broadcast a double tension of civil-military relations through a different configuration of framing distances (60% personal distance vs. 30% social distance vs. 10% very close and public distance ). On the one hand, they use a close-up perspective to create an immersive military scene, urging the population to join the army. On the other hand, they form a knowledge barrier through a detached presentation of the military. The vertical perspective is mostly flat (82%), which makes it possible to construct equal civil-military relations. The downward view (13%) and the upward view (5%) shape a dual image of heroization of soldiers and authorization of the state. The horizontal perspective adopts the complementary strategies of side (55%) and front (44%): the former objectively presents the details of military operations while the latter establishes emotional connection through the eye contact, thus forming a complex communication mode of information transmission – emotional mobilization.
ISSN:2782-4799
2782-4802